JA Worldwide Unveils New Online Program To Ignite Teen Interest In Science & Technology Careers

JA Worldwide and Alcoa Foundation Team Up to Implement Global STEM Education Initiative for Teens

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Oct 29, 2014, 10:00 ET

BOSTON, Oct. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- JA Worldwide (JA) today announced a new partnership with Alcoa Foundation to launch a global curriculum that will bring enhanced STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education to middle and high school students. JA Worldwide received a $750,000 investment from Alcoa Foundation to create JA Assembling Your Career, a program comprised of supplemental STEM career sessions for students in JA markets across the globe.

The international job market is becoming increasingly dependent on qualified applicants with formal STEM education. Recent predictions show that 85 to 95 percent of jobs will require STEM skills by 2020. JA Assembling Your Career encourages students to think about how their current skills and interests will serve them in future high-growth, high-demand careers. JA Assembling Your Career contains three interactive, STEM-focused activities that can be used by volunteers or teachers in the classroom as stand-alone activities, or as an enhancement to existing high school JA programs.

"The international job market is becoming increasingly dependent on qualified applicants with formal STEM education. In fact, recent data from the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training shows that 85 to 95 percent of jobs will require STEM skills by 2020," said Sean C. Rush, president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide. "Junior Achievement believes in the boundless potential of youth. Through our partnership with Alcoa Foundation we can bring customized STEM education and career readiness tools to youth and help inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers and manufacturers."

Piloted internationally in 2013, JA Assembling Your Career's first implementation sites include Brazil, France, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, with expansion into additional countries planned for future years. Additionally, the JA Assembling Your Career curriculum will be made available to other partners such as Skills USA, a career and technical student organization, and Project Leap, a leadership development program for nonprofit industry professionals, to further expand its reach.

Alcoa Foundation works with partners to inspire future STEM innovators and introduce students to manufacturing, showcasing the creativity and career mobility that the industry offers. JA Assembling Your Career promotes the importance of STEM skills on an international scale and help middle and high school students understand the global career opportunities available to them in manufacturing.

"The Alcoa Foundation partnership with Junior Achievement is helping young people around the world imagine a new path for their future," said Esra Ozer, Alcoa Foundation president. "Together, we believe that by exposing more students to STEM programs, they can learn the skills needed to be successful in their future careers."

For more information on JA Assembling Your Career, click here. To learn more about the Alcoa Foundation, please click here.

About JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement)
JA Worldwide is one of the largest global NGOs dedicated to addressing fundamental social and economic challenges of young people by educating and empowering them to transform their future and own their economic success. Through cutting-edge, experiential learning in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, JA Worldwide effectively broadens the canvass of possibility for young people and enriches their ability to contribute to the strength of their families, communities, and economies. The 121-country JA Worldwide network is powered by 400,000 volunteers and mentors from all sectors of society, reaching 10.6 million students around the world. Visit www.jaworldwide.org for more information.

About Alcoa Foundation
Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S., with assets of approximately $470 million. Founded 62 years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than $590 million. In 2013, Alcoa Foundation contributed more than $22 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the world, building innovative partnerships to improve the environment and educate tomorrow's leaders for careers in manufacturing and engineering. The work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa's thousands of employee volunteers who share their talents and time to make a difference in the communities where Alcoa operates. Through the Company's signature Month of Service program, in 2013, a record 62 percent of Alcoa employees took part in nearly 1,300 events across 24 countries, benefiting more than 505,000 people and 1,900 nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit alcoafoundation.com and follow @AlcoaFoundation on Twitter.

SOURCE JA Worldwide